Draft-actuated circulating pump and indicator



A. MOSES DRAFT ACTUATED CIRCULATING PUMP AND INDICATOR Filed March 26, 1926 March 29 1927.

INVENTOR.

ATTO NEY Patented Mar. 29, 1927.

UNITED STATES ABRAM MOSES, F BALTIMORE, MARYLAND.

DRAFT-ACTUATED CIRCULATING PUMP AND INDICATOR.

Application filed March 26, 1926. Serial No. 97,486.

The difficulty encountered in the operation of water cooled motor vehicles incident to keeping the cooling water at a sufliciently low temperature to prevent loss by boiling 6 and to give the most etlicien t running of the motor is one which. has been experienced by almost every driver and with every type of car. This difliculty is probably more pronounced with the machines having the ther- 10 mosiphonic circulation than with those which are provided with water pumpsfor this purpose. It frequently happens, however, that both types of circulation are in suflicient when a high speed ismaintained for long periods, it being an easily clemenstrable fact that not only does the increased speed with increased consumption of gas and increased friction, increase the amount of heat generated in very large proportions, but also lubrication becomes less effective and the resistance is apt to cause the fan belt to slip and lag with a proportionate reduction of the cooling effect from this source, also a great many water pumps are belt driven and the great increase of resistance at high speeds necessarily causes slippage of the belt on the pump pulley and loss of efiiciency of the circulation.

The foregoing has reference only to operation of the vehicle when the cooling system'contains sufficient water to give free circulation. With an insufficient supply of water any system will heat even though runnlijng conditions be otherwise most favora le.

The present invention relates to a cooling water circulating device which, though it may be substituted for the regular circulating equipment, hasbeen developed and will probably be more generally used in an auxiliary capacity. In the preferred form it is so constructed and mounted that it may be applied instantaneously to any machine and being actuated by the draft created by the motion of the vehicle it takes no power from the motor and increases its speed of operation and hence its circulating and cooling effect in proportion to the speed of the car which is ordinarily proportioned to the speed of the motor and, therefore, to the heat which is generated and imparted to the cooling system to be disposed of in this way.

The device also serves the important function of a water level indicator making it immediately obvious to the driver when the the radiator.

level of the water in the radiator drops below .a predetermined point. r

The device consists of a draft operated wheel or turbine which may be most conveniently mounted on the radiator cap, the wheel being connected to a shaft which extends downward. through the cap into the water carrying at its lower end a pump propeller which engages the water as it is returned to the top of the radiator by way of the top connection from the water jacket forcing it downward toward and through The draft wheel or turbine being operated by the draft created by the motion of the machine turns the pump at a speed corresponding to the speed of the machine giving increased circulation in proportion to the speed, and the pump propeller being in its operative position slightly below the normal level of the water in the radiator, if the water drops below this point the moving parts are relieved of the resistance due to the pumping action permitting the draft wheel to rotate at an increased speed, which change of operation will be easily apparent to the driver, calling his attention immediately to the insufficiency of cooling water in the system.

In the accompanying drawings I have illustrated a draft actuated Water circulator embodying the features of my invention in the preferred form, together with so much of the cooling system of an automobile as is regarded as necessary to a full understanding of the operation of the invention.

In the drawing:

Figure 1 is a top plan of the device.

Figure 2 is a section on the line 22 of Figure 1, looking in the direction of the arrows.

Referring to the drawings by numerals, each of which is used to indicate the same or similar parts in the different figures, the apparatus as shown comprises a draft operated wheel or turbine 1 having vanes a in 1 the form of cups. This rotates in a horizontal plane about a vertical axis. being mounted on shaft 9 which rotates in bearings 3, 4,- which in the form of the invention shown,

are carried by the radiator filler cap d. The

lower bearing 4 is forced into a suitable aperture 5 extending into the center of the cap in a vertical direction and the upper bearing 3 is carried in an upwardly extending shell cap a which is pressed down over a shoulder 6 on the top of the filler opening cap (Z. The shaft 9 extends downwardly'below the cap cl from 3 to 6 inches depending upon the construction of the ma chine for which it is made and carries at its lower end a pump propeller f which preferably has the blades inclined as viewed in the illust'ation, Figure 2, downwardly to the right. The right handed rotation which is imparted to the draft wheel when constructed and placed as shown, gives a pumping action which tends to force the water downward.

In the preferred form of the invention, as shown, the apparatus includes depending pipe or tube 8 which is pressed into the central depression 9 in the bottom of the cap. This tube extends downward into and toward the bottom of the top tank 10 of the radiator and encloses. the ptnnp propeller and is open at the bottom. The propeller is preferably near the bottom of the tank and of the tube which is provided intermediately with openings h opposite the top connection 11 from the motor water jacket to the top tank 10 of the radiator.

In the operation of the circulator the radiator and cooling system are filled preferably to the point indicated by the dotted line 12 in Figure 2 or to any point high enough to give circulation through the connection ll. With the cups or vanes arranged, as shown, the draft wheel or turbine 1 rotates in a right handed direction when the machine carrying the device moves forward with sufficient speed to create a perceptible draft. This causes the pump propeller f to rotate in a similar direction forcing the water downward from the tube 8. Assisted by the suction thus created, water passes from the top radiator connection 11 into the openings it and the motion of the water thus set up causes a continuous circulation throughout the system downward through the radiator, upward through the jacket, forward through the jacket to the radiator, the device being ordinarily designed to supplementthe circulation at the establishment and maintenance of which the circulating means provided is directed.

.It is easily apparent that the propeller or pumping member 7, being draftactuated by the motion of the vehicle, rotates at a speed corresponding to the speed of the machine and hence to the speed of the motor the speed of rotation being diminished by the resistance of the water so that the circulating effect increases proportionately to the speed .ofthe vehicle to which the speed of the a motor and thereby the heat generated are,

under most circumstances, proportionate, giving increased cooling as the need for cooling increases. It is also apparent that when the water level in the cooling system drops below the pump propeller f the main resistance to the rotation of the draft operated wheel will be removed and the speed of rotation will be consequently increased to such an extent as to be easily noticeable so that the device serves most etliciently as a water level indicator enabling the driver to anticipate and avoid overheating and consequent serious injury to the machine due to an insufficiency of water in the cooling system. The mounting of the circulator or indicator on the radiator cap is not regarded as essential to the invention in its broader conception.

I have thus described specifically and in detail an auxiliary water circulator for motor vehicles embodying the features of my invention in the preferred form. The specific terms are, however, used in a descriptive rather than in a limiting sense, the scope of the invention being defined in the claims.

hat I claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. The combination of a draft operated wheel, a shaft carrying the wheel, a motor vehicle radiator cap having a bearing for the shaft, the shaft extending downward from the cap and having projecting blades below the cap for circulating cooling fluid.

2. The combination of a draft operated wheel, a shaft connected to the Wheel, a motor vehicle radiator cap, a shaft extending downward through the cap and having a pump propeller at a point below the cap, a depending tube open at the bottom and secured to the cap, the tube having an opening to admit water, the propeller being near the bottom opening of the tube.

3. The combination in a cooling system for motor vehicles comprisinga radiator, of a draft operated wheel, means for supporting the same for rotation outside the cooling system, a water pump. in the cooling system and means connecting the same to said draft actuated wheel to be rotated thereby to circulate the cooling water through the radiator.

at. The combination with the cooling system of a motor vehicle comprising a radiator having a cap, a water jacket and connections between the radiator and the water jacket, of a draft operated wheel, a shaft on which the wheel is mounted, bearings for the shaft carried by the radiator cap, the shaft extending downward below the water level of the radiator, a pump member mounted on the shaft below the normal radiator water level, the pump and wheel being so related as to force the water downward when the machine moves forward.

5. The combination with the cooling system of a motor vehicle comprising a radiator having a cap, a water jacket'and a top connection between the radiator and the water jacket, of a draft operated wheel mounted on the radiator cap, a shaft carrying the wheel, bearings for the shaft sup ported on the radiator cap, the shaft extending downward below the water level in the radiator, a pump member mounted on the shaft below the normal radiator water level, the pump and wheel being so related as to thrust the water downward when the machine moves forward, a. depending tube secured to the cap and extending downward toward the pump member, the tube having an opening at the bottom and having an opening opposite the top radiator 0011* nection.

6. In a motor vehicle having a water cooling system, a draft operated wheel, means for rotatably supportlng the same on the vehicle to be actuated by the draft created by the motion of the vehicle, a shaft connected to the draft operated wheel to be rotated thereby, the shaft extending into the water space of the cooling system and means on said shaft engaging the water just below the normal water level in the system to retard the rotation of the draft operated wheel.

Signed by me at Baltimore, Maryland, this 24th day of March, 1926.

ABRAM MOSES. 

